To add Markstein Gary to your My Comics Page

Upgrade to a GoComics Pro account (only $19.99/yr) and have all of your
favorite comics emailed to you daily! You'll also get unlimited archive
access to decades of comics and an ad-free website and mobile app
experience.

Not registered?

Already a GoComics Member?

More strip options:

If you are willing to give both your time and effort, start home schooling, for the safety of your children, if nothing else. And, it can be done in such a manner as to give them a far better education for the life they must have in the future to be anywhere near successful!

Many must be asking why these school killings are largely an American phenomenon. Could one reason be opportunity? The U.S. has far more guns per 100 population than any other country in the world and 50% more than the second ranked gun ownership country, Yemen? Everyone has access to guns – men, women, children, social misfits, and the village idiot. Could another reason be values – that it is okay to settle your score with guns. After all the U.S. attacked Iraq, killing and maiming hundreds of thousands. And Iraq was a country innocent of charges, but was in the U.S. bad books for other reasons. Maybe the answer to why there are so many school killings is obvious, but too many Americans don’t want to hear the answer.

While I support the Second Amendment as a WELLREGULATED right to bear arms, as supported by SCOTUS in the actual decision of “Heller vs D.C.” stated, there IS an interesting comparison to Japan where firearms are EXTREMELY restricted, but not totally illega.

Yes, there’s certainly no connection between the availability of firearms, and firearm violence.

Also, graduated from high school in ’62, and even though we had “altercations” between folks, it was an open campus, and nobody had guns. Went back for my 40th class reunion, and the school was more heavily barricaded than the minimum security prison within a mile of my house today. There were also four armed guards at the gate checking I.D. before you could even enter the premises to “sign in” as a visitor. They were still confiscating the occasional handgun from students, INSIDE the security screens!

No question the vast number of people are good law abiding citizens. But the question still remains, why are these senseless shootings occurring despite those good characteristics you speak of. And why is this largely an American phenomenon? I’m not sure if I got the stat right, but I thought I heard on TV that a gun incident occurs in American schools once every two weeks on average.

It is unthinkable to me that after the Newtown slaughter of children and adults, not one thing changed in congress to prevent a recurrence, despite lobbying by parents of the victims. One of congress’s major responsibilities is public safety and security, and they could not find one thing that could be done for fear of a public backlash from a small but influential gun lobby. Come on!

My niece and nephews all graduated from Columbine H.S. in Littleton, before the shooting. It was interesting that they told about the little “trench coat” clique existed for a long time before Klebolt and his friend. While the group was “odd ducks”, for long time flags weren’t flying about them being dangerous.

Point being, these mass shooters ARE individuals, and addressing a GROUP as all alike is not a wise decision. That applies as well to many cultural and religious groups that Americans are very quick to “brand”.

If however those individuals profess radical views, and are joined, it may be that SUB-group that does indeed raise reasonable suspicion.

America has way more guns per capita than any other country on the planet. There are 89 guns per 100 residents in the USA… The closest developed country is Switzerland at 46 guns per 100. That is almost twice as many as 2nd place (for developed countries).

America also has more homicides per capita than any other developed country at 4.7 homicides per 100,000 people per year. (Although doesn’t even come close to some 3rd world countries like Honduras at 92 homicides)

But more guns doesn’t guarantee a more dangerous country either. You can see the opposite trend by comparing these two countries:Iceland – 30.3 guns per 100 people, 0.3 homicides per 100,000 peopleSouth Korea – 1.1 guns per 100 people, 2.6 homicides per 100,000 people

About Gary Markstein

Gary Markstein cut his cartooning teeth while doodling in the margins of his grade-school homework. Now he makes a living by skewering pompous public figures and politicians of every political stripe. Markstein is an artist at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and was previously the cartoonist for the Tribune Newspapers in Arizona.